This paper offers a critical review of a report published in March by the Citizens Research Council of Michigan titled "Improving Oversight of Michigan Charter Schools and Their Authorizers." The report argues that charter schools and charter school authorizers need more oversight. Making the case for this position might include…

In this webinar, Dr. Edward Roeber, Assessment Director for the Michigan Assessment Consortium, addressed what educators need to know about formative, summative, and interim assessments and how each functions in a coherent assessment system. This Q&A addressed the questions participants had for Dr. Roeber following the webinar. The webinar…

Over the past 6 years, the Oral History Project Team has conducted interviews with individuals who have influenced the theory and practice of evaluation. In 2006, Robin Miller, with the help of Christian Coryn of The Evaluation Center at Western Michigan University (WMU), and Daniela Schroeter, also at the Center, sat down with widely regarded…

The author of this article, an education attorney, begins by describing a case where, a school superintendent of personnel for a rural school district in Michigan had just received a performance evaluation with high marks and a new three-year contract. Two months later the school board called him into a closed session and presented him with…

This article presents a roundtable discussion by a panel of professionals--Carl Larson, Scott E. Little, James Reny, and Roger Young. They share creative solutions to many of the facilities and business operations challenges faced by education institutions nationwide. Among the issues discussed is the effect of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) on…

This paper presents interviews with Dr. Jon Mueller and Dr. Paula Harris. Dr. Jon Mueller is a professor of Psychology at North Central College in Naperville, Illinois. Dr. Paula Harris is a professor in the Department of Language, Literature, and Arts at Jackson Community College in Jackson, Michigan. In these interviews, they present a…

Reports on the establishment of a charter school in Michigan that serves home-schooling families and stresses a creationist curriculum. Describes the legal action taken against public funding of the charter school. (DDR)

This paper explores the range of ways in which school districts are using Title I funds for early education through kindergarten and examines how the implementation of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) has impacted those investments. It also makes recommendations for local education agencies (LEAs) interested in creating Title I-funded early education…

Relations between colleges/college governing boards and statewide coordinating boards, and alternatives to coordination, are considered. The history of statewide coordinating boards is briefly sketched, and it is suggested that current conditions and trends require both state and institutional responses. Among the issues are declining enrollments…

The historical background of and barriers to K-12 school finance reform efforts in Michigan from 1968 to 1989 are reviewed in this report. Factors inhibiting school finance reform are cost of equalization, local control, out-of-formula school districts, and property tax stability. Other factors include de facto unavailability of state personal…

This paper presents a policy framework for the implementation of goals for special education in Michigan. The first part of the paper is a memorandum that recommends the policy framework. Attachment A presents goals for providing a support system to students with disabilities to foster their progress in the general curriculum. Goals include: (1)…